Two Good Lectures This Week If You Live in Chicago

Michael Shermer, a noted skeptic who writes a monthly column for Scientific American, is visiting the University of Chicago campus tonight to talk about his new book, The Mind of the Market. I’m halfway through the book, which explores how evolution has shaped the way people interact with the modern economy. It is extremely interesting, and I will write more about it in the future. Shermer is a fantastic presenter; this talk he gave at the 2005 TED conference is excellent.

The details of tonight’s event are as follows:

6:30 PM — 8:00 PM
The University of Chicago’s International House in the Assembly Hall
1414 East 59th Street

If you can’t make it to the speech, Shermer will also be on WGN radio tonight between 9 PM and 11 PM Central time, as a guest on the Milt Rosenberg show, which you can listen to online.

Also in Chicago, Sudhir Venkatesh is giving a reading tomorrow from his new book, Gang Leader For a Day, at the Borders in Hyde Park. The reading starts at 7 PM, and, according to my understanding, it will be filmed for C-Span Book TV, so you might even find yourself on TV if you show up.

If you can’t make it to the reading, you can hear this interview with Sudhir by Scott Simon on NPR’s Weekend Edition.